First Responders: Your Heroes on the Scene

No matter what kind of emergency you have, you will be happy when the lights and sirens of help show up. Medical emergencies, fires, and crimes all need to have a series of people to provide assistance. There are certain roles played by firefighters, paramedics, and the police. They work together in an organized way to keep you safe, mitigate further risk, and sort out what happened.

Firefighters

The first on the scene are usually firefighters. While they do deal with fire a lot, enough to have to wear fire resistant coveralls, their scope is much wider than just fire. They are trained in first-aid, rescue, and hazardous material handling as well. This diverse skill set is why they are usually the first on scene, they are trained to handle almost all situations.

Paramedics

Paramedics are going to show up shortly after firefighters, and have skills specific to medical issues. They are trained in stabilizing, immobilizing, and transporting the sick and injured. The equipment that they have in their ambulances are lifesaving in nature; they have a several different tools and many different types of medication. All of this is for emergency medical treatment, which keeps you alive until you reach the hospital.

Police

The police officers are trained to de-escalate and investigate incidents. Most jurisdictions consider vehicle accidents and fires to be crime scenes until it can be proven otherwise, and that is why they end up on the scene of most 911 calls. Even if they do not seem criminal in nature, a police officer is usually involved to help document the events. In cases of criminal activity, they will provide a more prominent role. Police officers will first subdue the situation, if it is still on-going. Then they preserve the crime scene, until evidence can be gathered. Their final steps are investigating and testifying their findings in a court setting.